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The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore by Kai Chandler |
by:
Kai Chandler |
The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore
The internet is undoubtedlyfantastic resource for
families and offersrich vein of educational content.
However, there are potential dangers - welcome to the
seedy world of viruses, spam, trojans, pornography, spyware
and other nasties.
Here areTop Twelve Threats No Computer User Should
Ignore:
one. Viruses - A computer program that copies itself. They
often disrupt your computer system or damage your data.
Viruses are usually received by email attachments so be
careful opening anything fromdubious source. They can
affect anyone, for example,destructive Mydoom worm
affected one out of three small and mid-sized businesses.
two. Spyware - Sends information about you and your computer
to somebody else. Spyware may sendaddresses of sites
you have visited or worse still, transmit personal
information. With today's concerns about identify theft
this isreal worry. For example, CoolWebSearch may hijack
web searches, home page, and other Internet Explorer
settings. Spyware is normally received as part of shareware
or freeware downloaded fromweb.
three. IP Spoofing - A technique to gain unauthorized access
to computers, wherebyintruder sends messages to a
computer withaddress indicating thatmessage is
coming fromtrusted host.
four. Trojans - An apparently legitimate computer program
that is really intended to disrupt and damage computer
activity by sending information, perhaps even passwords
ontothird party without you knowing. Asexample,
recent emails entitled "Osama Bin Laden Captured" attempted
to download"Trj/Small.B." Trojan ifembedded URL
was clicked. This trojan attempts to hijackPC.
five. Spam - Unsolicited mail often promoting products of a
dubious financial or sexual nature. Don't leave your email
address on websites and internet bulletin boards as they
are harvested by spammers.
six. Adware - puts advertisements on your screen. These take
many forms including popups, popunders and advertisements
that appear later, even if your browser is closed. Some are
sent usingWindows Messenger service which allows a
spammer to directadvertisement straight to your
computer by sequentially sending messages to IP addresses.
Always irritating, they are also often ofpornographic
nature.
seven. Diallers - for those of us still with dial up modems,
dialler programs redirect calls tovery expensive number.
You will not know until you getbill.
eight. Hijackers - Hijackers take control of your web browser
and may reset your home page, search bar and search pages.
They can redirect you to undesirable sites or stop you
going to particular sites.
nine. Hackers - With so much personal data available online
to anyone withpassword you must be sure your password is
secure. If you are using your mother's maiden name, your
cat's name or your birthday then your password is at risk.
Here are two tips for makingsecure password. Method One -
pick two random unrelated three letter words and two
digits. Mix them up and what do you have? A secure password
such as "redoneninecat" or "hotpinseventhree". Method Two - pickshort
sequence of words such as Now Is The Winter Of Our
Discontent Made Glorious' and you havepassword of
"nitwoodmg". You could even changeI's and O's to
digits.
onezero. Phishing - Emails purporting to come from reliable
sources such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wanting
you to verify your account details, they can look very
realistic but are generally scams to harvest usernames and
passwords. Always opennew browser winder and type the
address there, rather than clicking onlink provided.
oneone. Hoaxes - Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At best
they take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable can
be victims of fraud. Pass it on!
onetwo. Stranger-danger - For those of us with children - do
you know what they actually do when they are online? Are
they working on homework tasks, downloading illegal music
or pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chat
rooms? You should consider blocking access to undesirable
sites and logging their activity withsurveillance tool.
Oh, and do not forget that where children are concerned,
computers should always be kept infamily room and never
in their bedroom.
Three Step Action Plan
There are three essential steps that should be taken to
ensure your PC is kept threat-free.
Firstly, be sensible when opening attachments or following
email instructions from apparently reputable sites.
Secondly, make sure you are usinglatest service pack
of Windows as Microsoft is continually closing loopholes to
tighten up security.
Finally, there'srange of low cost tools such as
firewalls, antivirus, spam blockers and spyware killers
available. Like everything else they vary in quality and
you tend to get what you pay for so always do your research
first and perhaps tryfree trial before getting your
credit card out.
http://www.surfcontrols.com specializes in providing
reviews and recommendations of top-rated tools to help
protect your online experience. There'squick reference
list to dozens of top sites promoting different aspects of
safe surfing packed with useful information and there's
alsogreat set of top tips for safe surfing.
Copyright Kai Chandler (#onetwotfiveonezeronine)
Aboutauthor:
Kai Chandler isproject manager and journalist
particularly interested in tools and techniques to protect
his family and computer against spam, porn, viruses and
malware. Asfather of two he is keen to ensure that
his children enjoysafe surfing surfing experience. His
reviews ofvery best parental internet filters,
anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware and surveillance tools
are at http://www.surfcontrols.comIt's essential reading
for any parent and computer owner.
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